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Rose Clergy
The Rose Clergy is the government-sponsored theological authority of the Dominion of the Rose Throne, handpicked from trusted clerics, paladins, and other divinely-empowered worshippers of any of the deities respected within the Dominion. It directly serves the will of the Mother Radiant and the Rose Throne itself, bypassing the Dominion's complex hierarchy of titles and peerage, and acts as a centralized council for, ruling body of, and handler of disputes between the many faiths significant enough to maintain a presence in the Cathedral City. Structure & reputation The Clergy recruits from the ranks of all faiths, and devotees of all alignments (though primarily lawful) can be found in its number. When approached for recruitment, should a cleric accept, she eschews her native deity's vestments in favor of robes in red, pink, or white to signify her new devotion, and becomes a liaison between the Throne and her home temple -- largely for the purposes of communicating new edicts and voicing the Clergy's interests in the internal affairs of the faith. Rose priests also serve as syndics and collectors of the Throne's tithes. Save for a select few gods granted special dispensations, most religious organizations wishing to preach within the Dominion's walls must pay a significant tribute to the Throne, and members of the Clergy endure popular reputations as heartless and greedy tax collectors as a result. Though significantly more difficult to acquire than titles of nobility, it is a generally unspoken acknowledgement in certain circles of the Dominion that rose priesthoods can be bought, and much of the Clergy's upper echelon is deeply corrupt for this reason. An independent detachment of the Rose Clergy, an inquisition presently led by the Cuthbertian priest Jesshan Feroux, nominally monitors such corruption -- but is likewise acknowledged in silence to be hamstrung and anemic, possibly by design, allowing the corrupt to continue amongst both the anointed and the noble laity. Relationship with the Planeswatch The Rose Clergy is roughly equal in size to and consistently at odds with the Planeswatch, as it acts largely in its own interests as opposed to those of the Shards at large, and its inquisition exists as a placation of Leah Dhasran's open accusations of systemic corruption in the Dominion. Haven is host to only a few emissaries from the Clergy, and as is her privilege as a Shardic leader, the Mother Radiant holds Coins of Calling -- though whether she is party to the corruption in her own kingdom is a matter of debate, with many Dominion citizens praising her and cursing her priests in the same breath. Mechanics Rare is the officer of the Planeswatch who also holds membership in the Clergy, but such neutral parties do exist. Characters wishing to play as rose priests must begin play with the following feat, or acquire it during play after coordinating with the DM: Rose Priest * Prerequisites: Residency in the Dominion, ability to cast 1st-level divine spells, non-chaotic alignment * Benefits: If your character is a cleric, add one of Law or Pact to your list of domains. If your character is a non-cleric, you may learn domain spells from the chosen domain as if they were part of your class spell list. You may add light and heavy maces to your deity's list of favored weapons. Category:Factions Category:Planeswatch